


Aftermath

by kcstories



Category: Resident Evil 4 - Fandom
Genre: April Showers Challenge, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-19
Updated: 2005-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-17 15:32:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/178324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few weeks after the mission, the president invites Leon to a Thank You dinner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Leon/Ashley pairing. post-RE4. Romance/angst/fluff.  
> Rating: M just to be safe, on account of some bad language (nothing too major).  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil. Added warning for possible OOC- ness, cheesiness and mild spoilers for the game.

It had all been her own doing.

Ashley Graham might have been young, sure, but she wasn't stupid; the unwanted displays of affection, the hugs he didn't really reciprocate, following him around like an overeager puppy dog; and then, to top it all off, that overly moronic _overtime_ suggestion… Ugh, she could really kick herself for that one!

Okay, so maybe she _was_ stupid. Or at the very least, the terror and panic had affected her judgement, frying a few brain cells in the process. Whatever.

Bottom line: Leon had never been particularly fond of her. She'd been his mission, nothing else. He was still infatuated with Ms Slinky Red Dress. Gah! Who _was_ that chick, anyway? And by being—for lack of a better term—too friendly towards him, Ashley had gone and screwed things up completely. She didn't think they could even be friends anymore.

Sure, there and then, she'd handled his rejection well: laughed it off, been a good sport and all that.

But as time went on, the more she thought about it, the more the whole thing made her cringe; the poor little rich girl, kidnapped, head over heels with her rescuing hero. How totally Hallmark. And barf bags all around.

She shook her head and attempted to concentrate on the course work in front of her. Maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to go back to school this soon, barely a month after her ordeal in Europe. But at least it helped keep her mind off things. Most of the time.

What didn't help, however, was that her father had decided to throw a little Thank You dinner for one Leon S. Kennedy that night. Promotion included, that went without saying.

Naturally, she would attend. After all, it was what her father expected. And of course, she owed her life to the Special Agent, lest we forget. Still, that didn't mean she was looking forward to seeing him again.

But maybe she'd get lucky. She wasn't home yet. Maybe there was another abduction in the works. Friendly aliens might just make a nice change from undead Spaniards wielding chainsaws and pitchforks.

 

*

 

 _"The President requests your presence... "_

Leon read the letter again. A command barely disguised as an invitation. Declining wasn't an option. Not this time.

After his most recent assignment, he'd asked for two weeks leave of absence, to recuperate, physically and mentally, and to try to figure out what Ada was up to.

To his chagrin, he hadn't found out much thus far, save for an obvious trail leading to Wesker. No surprises there, really.

He'd reported his findings to Hunnigan, who had promptly pulled the _not a priority right now_ card on him, a reaction that may or may not have been personal.

No, even if she'd seemed somewhat flattered at the time, flirting with her hadn't been his smartest move.

Either way, it appeared that no one was planning to do a damn thing about the missing sample, at least not before a new outbreak bit them all in the ass. Then, of course, some poor sucker would have to go on another suicide mission deep into zombie/mutant/whatever-they-conjured-up-this-time territory.

Much as he loved his job, Leon sincerely hoped he wouldn't be that sucker.

But back to the problem at hand: dinner with the president. And some associates. And no doubt a few members of the press. And Ashley.

Ashley...

His thoughts drifted back to the young girl he'd successfully rescued from that hellhole.

Once they'd managed to escape the island, they were quickly picked up by American troops. Being the president's daughter, Ashley was whisked off to Washington.

And Leon? Straight back to HQ for a full report. "Care to explain to the Spanish government why you blew one of their islands to Kingdom Come, Agent Kennedy?"

They never got the chance to say goodbye. Not properly.

These past two weeks, a few times, he'd considered calling her. But what would he have said? Things had ended on a rather awkward note. And he'd never been any good at this emotional stuff, either.

So he couldn't help but feel uncharacteristically nervous about tonight. And Mister President had absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

*

 

The aliens never came. So, reluctantly, Ashley went downstairs, wearing the purple dress her mother had chosen for her. It wasn't her usual style, but it would do. At least it made her look more mature; less of a dumb, giggly, schoolgirl.

Not that there had been much to giggle about lately…

 

*

 

Shaking the guest of honour's hand, like a good girl, she really hoped tonight would be over fast.

"Nice to see you again, Leon."

It wasn’t the most convincing lie she’d ever told.

 

*

 

There were speeches, photographs, and after what seemed like hours, everyone sat down for dinner.

Ashley had made sure she wasn't seated too close to Leon. After all, his business was with her father, not with her.

She felt his gaze linger upon her a few times, though, like he was trying to make eye contact.

She decided to ignore him, however. For one thing, she was too embarrassed still about the _overtime_ incident, and for another, there was really no point in the two of them getting reacquainted.

After tonight, she would never see him again. Eventually, she’d get over him too, and that would be a good thing.

She nodded to herself. _Yes,_ a very good thing.

 

*

 

Leon was baffled.

He'd foreseen a number of scenarios for the evening: bubbly Ashley pretending nothing had happened, running towards him, hugging him like before; angry Ashley demanding some sort of explanation, if not for the rejection then at least for those weeks of silence; maybe even spiteful Ashley flaunting a new boyfriend before him.

He had, however, not expected anything like this.

The first thing he noticed was how very different she seemed, and it wasn't just her elegant gown. When they'd first met, she'd been every bit the carefree girl. Today, she looked like a sophisticated young woman, and a stunning one, at that.

Her behaviour towards him, meanwhile, was polite, business-like, and very impersonal. Rather like her father's.

But then daddy was, of course, the president. What was her excuse? Was he nothing to her now? Just the guy who had happened to rescue her?

Leon felt oddly hurt, and more than a little insulted.

 

*

 

Ashley found she couldn't eat much, but fortunately, no one noticed.

They never did.

Her appetite hadn't been the same since Spain and Leon’s presence wasn't helping matters. He looked far too handsome tonight, and her stomach fluttered every time she heard that all too familiar voice say something.

 _Damn._ She needed to get out of there.

 

*

 

Ashley had been mistaken. Someone had noticed how she'd just shoved her food around her plate. He also witnessed how she quietly stood up and headed towards the balcony.

Leon counted to ten, excused himself and then followed her, discreetly.

 

*

 

With the fresh breeze flying through her hair, Ashley started to feel a little better. It would all be over soon enough.

He'd go home and life would return to normal.

Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. Fast forward twenty-four hours into the future and all would once again be well with the world.

 

*

 

Leon quietly shut the door behind him. She was standing on the balcony, looking in the direction of the gardens. She seemed distraught. Were those tears in her eyes?

He took a deep, bracing breath.

 

*

 

"Ashley?"

At the sound of his voice, she gasped and turned around.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you,” Leon quickly said. "I just saw you slip away and I was worried." Sincere though that was, it sounded kind of lame, even to him.

"I'm fine, Leon. No need to rescue me anymore."

The way she almost spat out the word ‘rescue’ didn't go unnoticed. The look in Leon’s eyes was one of complete surprise. "Apparently, I made a mistake,” he said, turning to leave.

"Never happened before, I'm sure,” came the response. She didn't know why she was being this bitchy. She just wished he'd go away. She meant nothing to him anyway, so what was he even doing here?

"Look, Ashley, I... "

"What, Leon? WHAT?" She inhaled sharply and continued, "You have made it perfectly clear that you don't like me very much, that I'm too young, whiney, spontaneous, what-the-fuck-ever! And that's fine. I can live with that. But if that's the way you feel, then why the hell did you follow me just now? Why did you keep staring at me across the table, huh? Is this some kind of game to you, or what? Oh, let's toy with the feelings of the ditzy blonde kid; I'm not interested, I usually go for the dark and mysterious type, but it's such a boost to my enormous ego to make some girl feel special and then let her down." She was almost screaming now. "Enough, Leon. I-have-had-ENOUGH!"

He didn't know what to say. Memories from Spain came flooding back to him: his anguish when she went through that painful procedure of having the parasite removed, while there was nothing he could do but watch and hope it would be over fast, his anger when he thought those guards were going to assault her, how worried he was every time she disappeared from his sight, how natural it felt to take her hand, how much he enjoyed holding her in his arms, even though he knew that personal involvement might jeopardise the entire mission, and how "sweetheart" just slipped out one day, despite himself.

He'd grown way too fond of this girl.

Yes, he'd turned her down in the end, but not for the reasons she apparently assumed. When on a rescue assignment, you didn't up and bang the kidnap victim. It just wasn't done, especially if her father happened to be not only your boss but also your president.

Then there was of course the Ada issue as well: a dangerous obsession from the past that just wouldn't quit. He'd been attracted to her for so long, and unable to let go of the twisted games, the broken promises, the meaningless sex…

Well, meaningless on her behalf, anyway. He'd kept hoping for more, against his better judgement.

No doubt she was with Wesker now. In many ways, those two deserved one another. With any luck, they might even bleed each other dry for a change and give the rest of humanity a break.

Regardless….

Standing there, Leon suddenly realised that all the while, he'd had the chance to build something new, something pure, with someone who obviously did care about him.

God, Ashley had practically offered herself to him on a silver platter that day. And what had he done? _"Hah. No thanks."_ Way to go, Kennedy! He sighed.

Meanwhile, Ashley's ranting had stopped. She hadn't meant to explode, but boy, was he ever infuriating! Couldn't a girl even wallow in peace anymore?

Finally deciding to go back inside, she shot him another glare and headed towards the door.

It was then that he grabbed her arm, spun her around and firmly but gently pulled her closer to him.

She looked up, shocked. "What the HELL, Leon?"

"Ashley, I…”

He never finished the sentence. He just couldn’t find the right words. Instead, he planted a tender kiss on her lips.

 

*

 

She was speechless. This... She'd yearned for this for so long.

Ashley wrapped her arms around him and eagerly kissed him back, never wanting to let go again.

 

*

 

They only broke apart because they needed to catch their breaths.

Ashley looked up at him, the surprise still very evident in her eyes.

Leon flashed her one of the most beautiful smiles she'd ever seen. "Hey," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "How would you feel about taking this somewhere more private?"

She couldn't help but grin. "Why, Special Agent Kennedy, you're not suggesting we do some overtime, are you?"

He laughed, relieved to finally see the old Ashley shining through.

"I might be,” he replied, before grabbing her hand and leading her to the nearest exit.

 

*


End file.
